Emergency services comb through rubble after Russia’s missile strike on Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, January 6, 2024 (Reuters)
Sunday’s Coverage: Russia “On Course To Lose 500,000 Military Personnel” By End of 2024
Map: Institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1218 GMT:
Ukraine has exported 15 million metric tons of cargo through a Black Sea shipping corridor since it was established last August.
Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the shipments included 10 million tons of agricultural goods.
The corridor was established in the western Black Sea weeks after Vladimir Putin tried to reimpose Russia’s blockade of three Ukrainian ports. International partners offered assistance, and Ukrainian strikes on Russian naval facilities and warships effectively removed Moscow’s forces from the maritime area.
“Over the five months of the corridor’s operation, 469 new vessels have called at our Ukrainian ports for loading,” Kubrakov said.
UPDATE 1046 GMT:
The death toll from this morning’s Russian missile strikes has risen to at least four.
Two people were killed and critical infrastructure hit in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine.
Another civilian has died in the Kharkiv region, an elderly woman pulled from the rubble of a destroyed house.
The Ukraine Air Force said 18 of 51 Russian missiles — a relatively low rate of interception — and all eight Iran-made attack drones were downed.
UPDATE 0853 GMT:
At least two people have been killed by Russia’s missile strikes this morning.
A 62-year-old was killed in Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, where a shopping center and more than two dozen private buildings were damaged.
Governor Serhiy Lysak posted, “The mad enemy once again struck civilians. Directed missiles at people.”
UPDATE 0654 GMT:
At least five people have been wounded and civilian infratructure damaged in Russian missile strikes across Ukraine early Monday.
Explosions are reported in Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrosk region, Kharkiv city and region, and the Zaporizhzhia and Khmelnytskyi regions.
In the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, Russia hit industrial facilities in Kharkiv city. A strike on a house in Zmiiv injured three people, with two others believed to be under rubble.
The cruise missiles were reportedly launched by Tu-95 bombers from the direction of the Caspian Sea.
UPDATE 0621 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked Japan for its support and looked forward to a joint weapons production facility with Sweden.
Amid the visit of Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to Kyiv on Sunday, Tokyo announced assistance to Ukraine’s energy grid with the supply of seven high-voltage autotransformers and five gas turbines.
Japan has allocated $1 billion for humanitarian projects and recovery, with the prospect of increasing the amount to $4.5 billion through the mechanisms of international institutions.
Kamikawa said Japan will contribute $37 million to the NATO trust fund to purchase drone detection systems for Kyiv.
In meetings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Foreign Minister discussed Kyiv’s 10-point Peace Formula; implementation of reforms; cooperation in infrastructure and in digital and nuclear industries; and trade relations.
Zelenskiy posted:
In Kyiv today, I hosted Japanese Foreign Minister @Kamikawa_Yoko.
Japan is a very important and powerful partner of ours. I am grateful for the level of cooperation we achieved—a true strategic partnership.
I thank Japan for all the valuable assistance to our country,… pic.twitter.com/cJ8HvMiAVj
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 7, 2024
In a video address to the Swedish conference Society and Defense”, Zelenskiy said:
We strive for the best weapons and technology in the world, for our own security and the security of our partners. So, joint production with Sweden is a priority for us. And I am confident that the day will come when we will be able to see the opening in Ukraine of the first joint production with you.
Zelensky noted that Ukraine has already begun joint defense activities with Turkey, Romania, Poland, and the UK. Agreements have been reached with Czechia, the US, and Germany.
The President explained, “We see that Russian aggressive ambitions can be stopped only where there is sufficient strength to stop them. And we will provide such strength only together, in solidarity, only by working with each other to strengthen each other.”
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Eleven civilians, including five children, have been slain in Russia’s latest mass killing in Ukraine.
The Russians fired S-300 missiles on Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Saturday afternoon.
The young victims were between 3 and 17 years old. Another 10 people were injured, with six houses destroyed.
Pokrovsk is about 40 km (25 miles) west of the eastern frontline, close to the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In August, Russian “double tap” missile strikes on an apartment block, hotel, and restaurant in the town killed 10 civilians and wounded 81. Among the injured were 31 police workers and seven emergency responders.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday night, “The Russian strike targeted ordinary residential buildings and private houses….Russia must feel — always feel — that no such strike will go without consequences for the terrorist state.”
The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, joined the condemnation, noting that an escalation in Russian missile and drone attacks since December 29 has killed almost 120 civilians and wounded almost 480.
The most recent surge in attacks on populated cities across Ukraine is leaving behind an outrageous number of children, women and men killed and injured, and a trail of loss and destruction.
